4 Jun 2014

New Book – Out Now! Towns in Britain by Jones the Planner

Now available in all good bookshops ...

This lavishly illustrated book takes an irreverent, sometimes angry and amusing journey exploring our towns and cities, from Hackney and its hipsters to Rab C. Nesbitt’s Govan, from the screaming incoherence of Cardiff Bay to the alleged idyll of Hertfordshire’s garden cities. Written for the informed general reader, Towns in Britain looks at what is happening to our cities today, and is essential reading for those interested in urban design, architecture, and town and transport planning.

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Get in touch with Adrian or Chris who are happy to take part in talks or discussions about towns, architecture, planning and urban history related themes or issues.

Example of spreads – Introduction

Towns in Britain will stimulate discussion about important topics which affect us all, the housing crisis, the quality of urban regeneration, place-making and the creation of civilised streets. It challenges current political and planning orthodoxies and the baleful impact that so much recent development has had on our cities. It also confronts popular and media stereotypes which dismiss so much of our built environment as ‘crap towns’ and ‘concrete monstrosities’ and illustrates the value of underrated places.

Example of spreads – Coventry

Example of spreads – Bristol

Example of spreads – Deptford to Woolwich

Towns in Britain expands on the themes of the popular jonestheplanner.co.uk blog. Both are primarily written by Adrian Jones and presented by Chris Matthews. Adrian Jones is a town planner and urban designer, formerly Director of Planning and Transport for the City of Nottingham and member of CABE’s national Design Review Panel.

Published by Five Leaves Publishing.

2 comments:

Grant Butterworth
said...

I bought my two copies last week rather than expecting freebies from the old boss.

Fantastic job Adrian the only disappointment was no acknowledgement of my support of the Rochdale contribution......

About

A series exploring architecture, urban design and planning issues in Britain’s towns and cities. Primarily written by the town planner/urban designer Adrian Jones and presented by Chris Matthews, a local historian and graphic designer. You can also find us on twitter and flickr.

Latest Book

Cities of the North takes an irreverent and often amusing look at the changing townscape, special character, architecture and planning of the great Northern English cities. Lavishly illustrated, it is a companion to Towns in Britain published by Five Leaves in 2014 and it builds on the popular Jones the Planner blog. It explores the process and politics of development and ‘regeneration’ which is reshaping Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford, Hull and Newcastle amongst others, always focusing on the intrinsic character of place.
Order here

The First Book

This lavishly illustrated book takes an irreverent, sometimes angry and amusing journey exploring our towns and cities, from Hackney and its hipsters to Rab C. Nesbitt’s Govan, from the screaming incoherence of Cardiff Bay to the alleged idyll of Hertfordshire’s garden cities. Written for the informed general reader, Towns in Britain looks at what is happening to our cities today, and is essential reading for those interested in urban design, architecture, and town and transport planning.Order here